The Universim: Introducing a hunting system

Place your palm on the ground. Do you feel the vibrations? Shove your ear into the dirt. Do you hear the pattering of feet or the distant stomp of a mighty creature? Now, taste the soil. Horrible, isn’t it? That’s what you get for blindly following orders! However, some of these skills will help you in the coming months. The distant howling and rustling of bushes will soon begin to mean something. The animals of Mother Planet roam these lands, and they will help your civilization to grow even stronger.

We are introducing a hunting system to The Universim, which will become a key feature for survival. Nuggets will begin hunting in the Stone Age. Meat offers Nuggets an excellent new food source. The system is also entirely dynamic, making it an entertaining spectacle to watch.

ANIMALS

There will be 3 types of animals in the game, categorized by size and difficulty to catch.

Small animals

Rabbits, turtles, squirrels, and birds will be easy to catch, but will not provide enough food for more than one or two Nuggets.

Medium-sized animals

Wolves, foxes, bears, and deer are dangerous animals and require more skill to be caught byNuggets. A Nugget will never succeed on their own. You will need to gather 2 or more Nuggets together in the Hunting Hut to have any chance of success. Keep in mind that these animals will recognize weak hunters and fight back.

Large Animals

These are very powerful and meaty animals, but they are slow and easy to keep up with. Animals such as mammoths, giraffes, whales, and rhinos are remarkably difficult to catch and require at least 6 Nuggets to be present in order to succeed.

TRAPS

Nuggets can also plant traps to catch wandering animals around the Epicenter. Each Hunting Hut possesses 1 trap that requires time and resources to be assembled. The assembly time depends on the size of the trap and the amount of Nuggets assigned to the Hunting Hut. The more Nuggets in the hut, the faster the trap will be assembled.

You can only place one trap of any type per hunting hut. Each trap has a radius that will attract an animal with a particular scent. As soon as an animal steps foot into the zone, it will be attracted to the trap by bait. Nuggets will collect animals from traps once they return from a hunt. Once the trap is used, it will be completely broken, so you will need to build a new one or select the built one already.

THE HUNT

Hunting Huts can hold up to 6 Nuggets at a time once all available slots are researched and unlocked. Larger animals require more Nuggets to be caught successfully. Assigned Nuggets will gather around a fire, and they might even break out into a hearty song! Hunters will wait around the fire until everyone has regained their strength and eaten. Once everyone is ready, the hunt will begin. Nuggets will choose their prey based on the target size you selected. They will approach the animal until they get within range to throw their stones, spears, or fire a rifle. Each attack is dynamic, which means that Nuggets have the potential to miss.

THE CHASE

Once startled, an animal will start running away, unless it decides that it has a better chance by fighting back. Nuggets will then begin pursuit. At some point, the animal will stop with the hope that it escaped from danger. However, as you know, Nuggets are rather persistent about certain things. They will never be too far behind. Nuggets will repeat this behavior until the animal is dead.

LEVELING UP

Hunting Huts will receive Hunting Experience for every animal type brought in. The more Nuggets from the same hut hunting the same type of animal, the greater the chance of success they will have on future hunts. Hunters will start out with stones and spears and slowly progress towards more advanced weaponry, like rifles and futuristic blasters (pew pew). Once the Space Age is reached, this hut will become the primary building for Explorers, the brave few who colonize alien planets. By this stage, they will hopefully have everything they need to defend themselves from alien wildlife on unknown worlds.

OUR GOAL

We really want to push the dynamism of this system, allowing you to observe the interesting interactions between Nuggets and animals during the hunt. We will be tweaking this system for quite a while to come, so please give us your thoughts. Also, let us know if you have any great ideas in the comments and if there is anything we can add to make The Universim even better!

THE UNIVERSIM STEAM RELEASE

Additionally, The Universim will finally be available on Steam, GOG, and Humble in Q2 this year!

SXSW Gamer’s Voice Award for The Universim

Oh, and we almost forgot! Crytivo has been nominated for an official 2018 SXSW Gamer’s Voice Award for The Universim! The Universim wouldn’t be as great as it is without your support and feedback. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!